The Sharks of North America is a reference work that will serve as the standard work on sharks for the twenty-first century. This book covers the entire body of knowledge about each North American species, and dispels the numerous myths found in the scientific and popular literatures. The text covers all the 140 species known from North America, and includes a few extra-limital species from adjacent areas to complete the accounts of some families and to increase the area where this book can be used to identify sharks. Each species is illustrated with an anatomically correct, coloration-correct drawing, and outlines of the snout shape and teeth. This book will be the primary reference of anyone interested in sharks: from laymen and fishermen to biologists and conservationists.
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction 3
Key to the Families of North American Sharks 11
Species Accounts 19
Appendices 533
References cited 551
Glossary 601
Scientific names 607
Common names 611
Jose I. Castro is a fisheries biologist with the NOAA and a senior scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory. He received a B.S. from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in Zoology from Clemson University. He is a shark specialist who has conducted research on different aspects of shark biology including their reproductive biology and their use of nursery areas, and has published numerous scientific articles and the well-known book "The Sharks of North American Waters". He has been active in the management of shark fisheries and the conservation of sharks and lectures often at universities and research institutions throughout the world. Prior to his present position he worked as a shark biologist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the Caribbean.
I predict that there will never be another book on sharks as informative and beautiful as this one
- Dr. Eugenie Clark, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland
"'The Sharks of North America' is a tour de force. Jose Castro's species accounts are written in a straighforward style easily comprehended by a lay audience, yet the scientific detail provided is the most complete of any shark book published in the last 50 years."
- Dr Jack Musick, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
"The illustrations by Diane Peebles are works of art. Not only are they attractive in their own right, they are produced with painstaking detail to morphometric analysis and accurate reproduction of natural coloration. This is one of the few scientific works that belong not only on scholars' bookshelves, but also on their coffee tables as well!"
- Dr. Jeff Carrier, Albion College
"Castro has scoured the continent (and the world) for reference materials and specimens to ensure the accuracy of the illustrations and the science. There is no doubt that this book will become a critical reference for shark researchers and enthusiasts around the world for years to come."
- Dr Mike Heithaus, Director, Marine Science Program, Florida International University